Walking on the Clouds – the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia

If you ever wondered what it feels like to walk on the clouds then you should visit the Salar de Uyuni.

Located in the southwest corner of Bolivia, the Salar de Uyuni is a blindingly white salt flat, which stretches for more than 4,500 square miles.

To be fair, at an elevation of nearly 12,000 feet above sea level, in theory you could be walking above the clouds and it comes as no surprise that this stunning ethereal  landscape has been dubbed by some as ‘heaven on earth’.

The Salar de Uyuni (of the salt flats of Uyuni in English) is an otherworldly place. Here the sky and ground seem to merge into one to create a dreamy panorama, where everything plays tricks on your eyes and the whole landscape becomes an optical illusion.

For half of the year you can drive across the white hexagonal tiles of salt that seem to go on forever and ever, and for the other half of the year the Salar becomes a giant puddle where the reflection of the sky and clouds make it look like the world’s biggest mirror.

Abstract Salar Salt Flats

In my triptych painting of the Salar de Uyuni, I wanted to capture the many different colours that you seem to see as you gaze at this hazy landscape. I used acrylic paint so I could put multiple layers of colour, then at the end added the titanium white with a palette knife.

Here a few sketches of the Salar de Uyuni and the Atacama Desert from my sketchbook done in chalk pastel.

Some photos from the Salar and in the Atacama Desert.